Walking Dead: A Future to Die For
by PeanutandCashew
Summary: Cassidy Sandow plays out her days in the zombie apocalypse. A Stone Mountain native 17 year old who has to face the fear of death to save the ones she loves and to protect herself. Dealing with bandits, sneaky groups, acquaintances and tough choices, Cassidy has to survive in order to find out who she really is. Is she a bandit? A leader? Or is she just a teenage girl.
1. Chapter 1: Once in a Lifetime Concert

"Trust me; you will have the best night of your life tonight!" Lisa emphasizes as we hop into her convertible. It was yet another set up double date and I was being taken against my will. But I'm so used to being her sidekick for her dates. She's been dating this guy, Ben Paul for over a month now and several dates later; they official declared themselves boyfriend/girlfriend.

As for me, I was always set up with Ben's pal, Travis. He wasn't my type what so ever with him being in the band and all. Travis always would somehow abandon me for some hottie that was at the local date spot. I'm fine with it considering I would never hook up with him but it irritated me every time because I would hear the same apologetic saying from Lisa. This is why I wish she would sometimes take our other friend, Ryleigh but she holds a better ground and doesn't give in to Lisa's manipulative personality.

Tonight Lisa has decided on all of us to go bowling. "So, are you ready to meet your date?" The Travis thing has become a running inside joke for us. I roll my eyes and get out, smoothing out my skirt and adjusting my straps to my camisole. Lisa was more dressed up in kitten heels and a skater skirt with an off the shoulder graphic tee.

"…Strike!" Ben jumps up and down with joy. Lisa cheers along and gets up to kiss him like the usual. I sit next to Travis and act like I never knew he flirted with other chicks.

"I need to use the toilet, I'll be back." He pats my back and jogs away. He's probably off to find a more interesting chick to hang out with anyways.

"So I heard that Lisa, Ryleigh and you are skipping class tomorrow to go to some concert in Atlanta?" Ben sits down while Lisa is up to bowl.

"Yeah, it's our favorite bands playing. My parents are out of town on vacation like usual, Lisa's parents could care less and Ryleigh's barely pay attention to her as long as she passes. Sorry you won't get to see your beautiful girl tomorrow." I tease him about Lisa. He chuckles and we both just watch Lisa totally fail on the last bowl. She stomps over overly dramatic making all of us laugh.

By the end of the night, Lisa and Ben had a fun night, I was left alone like I expected but it ended up being fun. I go to bed alone that night, the sad part of being an only child. Parents should be gone for another week. They enjoyed their getaways that happened once a month lasting from a weekend to a two week cruise.

My alarm wakes me for school that I was not going to this morning. I get my band T-shirt on, ripped jeans, converse and pull my hair into a ponytail. After my makeup was finished I called up the girls to see if they were on their way. This concert festival lasted from noon to midnight. It was going to be a beautiful day of ear blasting music and free food.

"Did you guys see the news this morning?" Lisa mentions as we enter the highway.

"No, I'm not my parents." Ryleigh says while placing her feet on the dashboard. I lean up from the backseat.

"Apparently this guy got super hurt this morning and they took him to the hospital but ended up waking back up."

"Wow, a miracle." Ryleigh says sarcastically. They usually liked to battle each other on these sorts of things. "That happens every day Lisa, what made that so special?"

"I don't know. I turned off the T.V. to jump in the shower. They probably just went on how awesome it was." Lisa gets caught behind a police car. "God damn, could they drive slower. I would beep but I don't want to get in trouble for harassment." She talks to herself.

"Hey, maybe Cassidy can finally meet someone that's actually into her." Ryleigh brings up. "That Travis is such an ass."

"Ha! People dating me? The day that happens is the day the world ends." We begin to laugh when suddenly; the police car hits the railing and falls down into the woods. Lisa swerves just in time to miss whatever was lying in the road.

"What the hell? Lisa! Pull over; we have to call the police!" I exclaim as I turn back to see a dead body in the road.

"Fuck that! I don't want to be blamed for an accident I didn't do. We can just pretend we didn't see anything. Besides, we have a festival to go to!" Lisa cheers like she just saw a bunny get hit.

"I can go with that." Ryleigh finally agrees with Lisa. "Cassidy, it was probably an old fart driving that police car, his fault."

"There was a dead body in the road!" I exclaim.

"Not our problem." Lisa says. She turns on the music and we just cruise all the rest of the way there.

We get out of the car to see tons of cars here to experience this moment. "Hell yes!" Ryleigh cheers. "This is so worth not being at school!"

"Now I wish I could've gotten an extra ticket for Ben. If only I knew we were going to become close…" She sighs and we begin to walk to the attractions. Music was playing and lots of people were enjoying the day. We weren't there for long until something bad happens. Ryleigh needed to use the potties so Lisa and I wait outside of them.

"I wish she could hurry up so I can get my picture with…oh my…" I see where she is staring. There is a man with rags for clothing attacking a person. The person screams and falls to the ground and is torn apart. I've never seen this happen at a music festival. People around us freak out and run. Ryleigh finally gets out.

"We need to go!" I pull Ryleigh and begin to run.

"What's going on?" She asks in the middle of us running to the cars. She turns when a high pitch voice drones out the air. "Zombies?! What the fuck!" We make it to the car but it's locked. "LISA HURRY, IT'S LOCKED!" I scream at her. She makes it to the car carrying her heels and searches for the keys. Then I see more of those monsters and some were coming our way.

"God damn it, where are they!" She yells at herself. I turn from Lisa to see Ryleigh's arm being grabbed. Ryleigh pushes the monster away and punches it in the face. It falls to the ground just as Lisa manages to unlock the car. We scramble in and slam the doors. The monster clings to the window scaring the shit out of all of us. We sit in the car screaming until Lisa hits the gas and we fly out of the parking lot safely.

"Ryleigh, are you okay?" Ryleigh sits next to me clutching her arm. She lets her opposite hand slip off the wound that is revealed. "Oh god, Lisa do you still have your first aid kit?" I ask her.

"Shut the fuck up! I'm too tense to get us into something worse like a car accident!" She breaks. "I don't have one Cassidy, why?"

"Ryleigh got hurt, real bad." I reply in a panic. The wound was oozing out clear fluid and blood, lots of it. "How much does it hurt on a scale of 1 to 10?"

"12." She gasps out her pain. "I knew something bad was going to happen as soon as we saw that police car go off the road! That body you insisted on seeing Cassie was probably a dead zombie. God…" She shakes her head. I notice her tears, she never cried. "This sucks…"

"We are going back to my place; we got medication we can drug you up." Lisa looks at us through the rearview mirror.

"No, we need to pull over." Ryleigh insists. "I'm infected Lisa. I've seen what happens to victims."

"What do you want us to do? Drop you off?" I say. "That's not going to happen! I can't abandon my friend."

"Chill out Cassidy. It's Ryleigh's choice. Either we wait to see what happens or end the suffering. It's just going to get worse." Lisa says something rational for once.

"Cassidy, I can do this." Ryleigh looks at me, her face now pale and her dark circles more noticeable. "You guys just need to pull over and kill me." Now the drop off thing I could handle with just some crying but killing my best friend? Not happening!

"I got the gun my Dad gave me for protection." Lisa opens up the glove box as she drives. "Cassie, get it out for me so I don't kill us all." I reach forward unseat belted and dig through her junk until a small pistol is found. I close the glove box and look at the shiny metal.

"This seems too soon." I shake my head. I didn't notice Lisa stopped the car.

"This needs to happen now or wait because the longer we sit here, the more we become prey to those things." Lisa looks behind her seat.

"Cassie, I think it's best for all of us that I have Lisa do this. I don't want you to do this." Ryleigh pushes my fallen bangs out of my face.

"I'm going to miss you." I admit in tears. We've been best friends since first grade. We've been through so much bullshit and good times. "I can't believe it took a small bite to end your life." Ryleigh holds me in her arms for a few seconds before she opens the door. "Don't look; it will only damage you more."

"Move to the front while I'm gone." Lisa orders me. "…And don't get bitten." They leave away from me but I saw them out the window. I see Lisa draw the gun towards Ryleigh's head. I couldn't watch so I duck my head down and stare into my lap. A simple gunshot is heard and I quickly pray for her soul.

"Well, that made me feel like shit for the day." Lisa throws the gun into my lap as she buckles up. I buckle up too and put the pistol away from me. "Cassidy, you know what this entirely means? It means our lives are different. We are going to need to trust each other more than ever. Let's go to your house for supplies since no one is home." I look out the window as she talks. "Look…" She sighs. "I know it sounds like I'm being a bitch for ignoring what was just done but it had to happen. I'm still your buddy and we can get through this. We just have to be strong and confident."


	2. Chapter 2: For the Best

Becoming bandits wasn't either of our choices. We tried getting by with the supplies we scrapped up from my house but it just wasn't cutting it. We put up our hoodies, loaded our pistols and went camp to camp threatening people for whatever they had left. Most of the people we raided barely had anything and taking from them felt so wrong but it was the only way we were going to survive this epidemic. I was hoping the military was going to help out, come out with something to stop this infection from spreading but in reality, anyone left in the military have given up to become a bandit themselves. Lisa has hurt more people than I have. I've killed two men compared to the ten she has slayed herself. She was our leader in this "pack". I didn't mind it though because in the end, Lisa always got her way and we were left at the end of the night with full stomachs and satisfied needs. We've kept track of how many days have gone by, today will mark day 41.

It wasn't the same though like earlier. Even killing people to get what we needed wasn't worth it anymore. People just weren't finding enough things for us to steal. "Cassidy, have you realized what's changing?" We rustle through the leaves that mark the beginning of fall. I guess it wasn't me who was noticing. "Being a bandit isn't worth it anymore." She tilts her head towards the ground, avoiding eye contact. "The people we raid barely have anything and the stuff we need now are at bigger camps with more people we can't raid from. We need to change our strategy." She stops in her tracks and she looks around to see if it's clear to stop moving.

"Maybe we need to head into the cities, you know, and find our own?" I suggest. She gives me a harsh glare, she obviously didn't agree with me.

"Last time we visited a city, our friend died." The incident first day has really gotten to Lisa more than to me. Then again, she was the one to shoot her; I just waited in the car. "I think it's time…to join a group."

"You know nothing good comes out of joining a group. Why do you think we found so many people just alone? They know themselves that groups are like suicidal pacts. Once you join one, you have to protect everyone not just yourself. If you don't then such things as being hunted down happens." Lisa rolls her eyes at my argument and crosses her arms.

"Look, I'm not saying just any group we come across but maybe we might have to eventually trust people, Cassidy. You may not like that but it's either that or having to kill people for worthless items." She makes a valid point. "I know you. You've never liked the idea of hurting someone since day one. Just trust me on this?" She sighs and looks at me. I notice I'm playing with my hands and quit it.

"Maybe." I give her no right answer and I move ahead past her. "We should keep going before the sunset goes down and we get lost in these woods."

"Isn't there a road back there?" Lisa catches up to me. Her blue hoodie catches the moon's light; the sun has left the sky for the night.

"I'm not sure…it's too dark out here for me." We were officially lost in the dark woods with who knows what. "I'm starting to feel stressed…" I feel my anxiety build up, my fear of zombies have grown since I found out that they were real creatures.

"Oh god, do you still have that compass?" She asks. I stop and reach in my pocket for it. I hand it over to her and watch her as she flips it open and finds out the direction. "There we go! Follow me Missy!" She jokes and she begins to walk in the totally opposite direction. I have a feeling that we aren't heading the right way though.

"I don't think the road's that direction though." I disagree. She keeps walking and eventually she was too far away. "Lisa!" I say in a loud whisper which does nothing. I hear a weird noise that begins to spook me out. I pull out my pistol and begin to follow her. The noise doesn't sound like a creature or anything familiar. The sound was like a low rumble from a far distance. I stop walking and call her a little louder. She spins around.

"Are you coming or not-"A junkie car comes out of nowhere and slams into her. The noise I was hearing was the muffler of an old car. The car comes to a screeching halt and Lisa's body lies far away. I cover my mouth and rush over to her. She was lying flat against the forest floor, not even moving a bit. I examine her to see if she was just knocked out but that's when I notice the blood gushing from her temple. I lay her head back down and back up. My last survivor, my last piece of hope dies right here, right now. I almost have the urge to take my pistol and march up to the car myself I was that pissed but who knows who was inside that vehicle? Retrieving Lisa's supplies from her bag, I book it out of the scene just as a figure emerges from the car. I hide away and stare at the shadowy figure. It was man with glasses and a blond beard. He talks to himself and begins to lift up my friend. Does he honestly think she's still alive? Then I start hearing the noises I know for sure, zombies. I know I have to leave immediately unless I want to deal with them. I hear guns go off and I see headlights of another truck by their car. I leave behind my best friend. "Good luck." I whisper to myself as I scramble out of the woods.

I camped out for the first time alone in a tall tree. I found the road shortly after that incident but I knew I had to sleep sometime. I woke up and unstrapped myself from this oak tree then slide down with my backpack. This would be day one of being on my own and frankly, I wasn't sure how I was going to survive. The thought of being in a group seemed more appealing now that I was going to be struggling to raid by myself. I begin walking down that road. I was close to Macon, a small town my mom worked in. I was just on the outskirts of it though; going downtown would just be suicide. Walking down the road, I knew I was putting myself in danger. I was a direct target for bandits, any car that was still running on the streets and zombies. I bring out a map that was stuffed in the front pocket of my backpack. I guess I was wrong, Macon was 50 miles away and it was the nearest destination to me though and it was the only shot I had to keep myself going.


End file.
